Black Perigord Truffles

Wikipedia – Black Perigord Truffle

A truffle is the fruiting body of a subterranean Ascomycete fungus, predominantly one of the many species of the genus Tuber. Truffles are ectomycorrhizal fungi and are therefore usually found in close association with tree roots. Spore dispersal is accomplished through fungivores, animals that eat fungi.

Some of the truffle species are highly prized as food. French gourmet Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin called truffles “the diamond of the kitchen”. Edible truffles are held in high esteem in French,Croatian, Georgian, Bulgarian, Greek, Italian, Middle Eastern and Spanish cuisine, as well as in international haute cuisine.

Where to buy Truffles

You can buy truffles direct from the grower, however you need to make sure that your grower has the right soil type and climate to grow truffles that are great. Because of the price of truffles many people have been attracted to farming them believing that will just make a large amount of money. However it takes a long time to become an expert and if you dont have the correct conditions the truffles will be substandard. Wed recommend using a wholesaler, like The Truffle Queen, as they have access to a large number of growers and can ensure that you get the freshest and highest quality truffle sourced from a number of regional and international truffle growers.

History

Antiquity

The first mention of truffles appears in the inscriptions of the neo-Sumerians regarding their Amorite enemy’s eating habits (Third Dynasty of Ur, 20th century BCE) and later in writings of Theophrastus in the fourth century BCE. In classical times, their origins were a mystery that challenged many; Plutarch and others thought them to be the result of lightning, warmth and water in the soil, while Juvenal thought thunder and rain to be instrumental in their origin. Cicero deemed them children of the earth, while Dioscorides thought they were tuberous roots.

Rome and Thracia in the Classical period produced three kinds of truffles: the Tuber melanosporum, the Tuber magnificanus and the Tuber magnatum. The Romans, however, did not use these and instead used a variety of fungus called Terfez, also sometimes called a “desert truffle.” Terfez used in Rome came from Lesbos, Carthage, and especially Libya, where the coastal climate was less dry in ancient times.[5] Their substance is pale, tinged with rose. Unlike truffles, terfez have little inherent flavor. The Romans used the terfez as a carrier of flavor, because the terfez tend to absorb surrounding flavors. Indeed, Ancient Roman cuisine used many spices and flavorings, and terfez were perfect in that context.]

delicious black truffle dish

Middle Ages

Truffles were rarely used during the Middle Ages. Truffle hunting is mentioned by Bartolomeo Platina, the papal historian, in 1481, when he recorded that the sows of Notza were without equal in hunting truffles, but they should be muzzled to prevent them from eating the prize.[6]

According to a hadith narrated by Saeed bin Zaid, Muhammad said that truffles are like manna and that water from truffles “heals eye diseases”.[7]

Renaissance and modern times

During the Renaissance, truffles regained popularity in Europe and were honoured at the court of King Francis I of France. However, it was not until the 17th century that Western (and in particular French) cuisine abandoned “heavy” oriental spices, and rediscovered the natural flavour of foodstuffs. Truffles were very popular in Parisian markets in the 1780s. They were imported seasonally from truffle grounds, where peasants had long enjoyed their secret. Brillat-Savarin (1825) noted characteristically that they were so expensive they appeared only at the dinner tables of great nobles and kept women. A great delicacy was a truffled turkey.

truffle pasta dish

Types of Truffle

there are a number of different types of truffle

different truffle species

as you can see above there are a number of different types of truffle and a number of different truffle species. You can see how different they are by slicing them and seeing how they look inside.